


the breaking of glass

by light_loves_the_dark



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Vanya Hargreeves, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Five Panics and Calls Vanya His Wife Instead of His Sister, Five is a Wife Guy, Fluff, Humor, Kinda?, Mini Rewrite of S2, Protective Number Five | The Boy, Pseudo-Incest, Seriously Five Let her Hug You, Temporary Amnesia, The Sibs are Watching This Mess with Interest, Vanya Hargreeves Has PTSD, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, and there is Fallout, this is actually fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:48:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29096802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/light_loves_the_dark/pseuds/light_loves_the_dark
Summary: “Five?” She asks, hoarse and still afraid. He pulls back the cornstalks, bending low to appear more friendly, and at least she doesn’t attempt to crawl away. The explanation is on the tip of his tongue. I’m your brother. We have powers. We have to save the world again. Or I have to stop you from ending it, but I can’t be without you anymore. You’re the reason I keep fighting. You’re what I have to come back to.All the words he can tell her to get her to come with him blend together in his brain, collapsing on top of each other.That well of confusion, of certainty, is his only explanation for the sentence that leaves his throat, unbidden and unexpected: "I’m your husband.”-aka the one where five panics and tells an amnesiac vanya that he's her husband, and then he panics some more when she takes him at his word.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 17
Kudos: 105





	the breaking of glass

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fiveyaaas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/gifts).



> this will be three parts bc i'm lost in the middle right now!! hopefully posting the first part will clear that up. 
> 
> merry (super late) christmas tori!! <3

When Vanya finally uses her powers in 1963, Five is flooded with such relief that it renders him speechless, unable to answer whatever inane question Elliot is throwing his way. 

Sound waves that powerful could be nothing but his sister. And if she is using her powers, she must be in trouble. 

“Don’t let my brother leave,” he orders, struck with the extremely annoying urge to check a mirror before exiting the apartment. This face is different from any he’s ever had. It’s not the youthful one of his teenage years that he’s been subjected to the past week, nor the older, weathered one he used in the Commission. It’s not even like the one he had in the apocalypse, when he had been sunburned and malnourished. No, this face is strong, unmarked by severe circumstances. His jaw is angular, and his hair is dark and healthy. He had studied it earlier, when he first noticed that the time jump had re-aged him, and had placed himself around twenty-five. 

Still younger than Vanya. Still much, much older. 

Five has never cared much for looks; there’s never been anyone he’s needed to impress aesthetically, given his remarkable skillset. Honeypot missions were for those agents who needed their bodies to make a murder look like an accident, a tactic of which Five had neatly skirted, preferring overdoses and car wrecks. Which is why the urge to check his appearance before going to his sister’s aid is particularly vexing. 

Elliot clears his throat, the usual mixture of anxiety and awkwardness crossing his expression. For now, he is necessary, but he’s already nearing the end of Five’s patience. “Is he going to wake up soon?”

Five waves a hand dismissively as he secrets a knife away in his jacket. It’s the early hours of the morning, the sun just barely casting a faint glow on the floor. Diego is not a late sleeper, but he’s never been very early to rise either. 

“What about the girl? Lila?” Elliot continues, casting a look back towards the master bedroom. 

“I don’t care,” Five replies, blinking out of the building before Elliot can ask anything else. He appears in the car, throwing it into gear. 

Vanya. He knows where Vanya is. 

For the first time since he appeared in this time, Five smiles.

-

Five cuts through the corn field with purpose, the tall stalks trampled in his wake as he searches for his sister. She wouldn’t have left, he tells himself. She’s panicked. She’s probably been more or less alone this whole time. With the striking exception of ending the world, Vanya’s instinct has always been to hide: from their father, from their siblings, from success and her own power. But she has never been able to hide from him. 

Sure enough, he finds her handiwork in the form of crop circles. She must’ve fought someone, probably the Swedes. After searching the surrounding area, he finds her on the ground with her hands wrapped around her knees, cowering beneath the tall, green stalks of corn. She is staring at him like she doesn’t know him, like he could attack at any moment, and it hurts him more than he had anticipated. Luther had told him she didn’t remember, but he had suspected it was a fight or flight response. After all, Luther and she had never been close, never gotten closer if last week had been any evidence. But Five? He’s  _ Five.  _ He’s her sole confidant. Even in this new body, can’t she tell? 

“Hi, Vanya,” he greets, but she doesn’t smile or relax. “I’m Five,” he adds, careful not to make any sudden moves towards her. He tucks his thumbs in his pockets, his posture loose and unthreatening. 

She looks surprised at his polite greeting, something flashing in her eyes, but she still doesn’t move from her protective stance. Nothing. Five is forced to agree with Luther; she simply doesn’t remember them. 

Five suppresses a sigh. This will be more difficult than he had suspected. 

“Five?” She asks, hoarse and still afraid. He can hear the follow up question -  _ what kind of name is that?  _ \- and for some reason, the thought of her mouth actually forming those words sends an even more intense sliver of pain through his chest. 

He pulls back the cornstalks, bending low to appear more friendly, and at least she doesn’t attempt to crawl away. The explanation is on the tip of his tongue.  _ I’m your brother. We have powers. We have to save the world again. Or I have to stop you from ending it, but I can’t be without you anymore. You’re the reason I keep fighting. You’re what I have to come back to.  _

All the words he can tell her to get her to come with him blend together in his brain, collapsing on top of each other. He has to get this right. He’s done staying away from her - avoiding her had caused the first apocalypse. He won’t let her cause a second, because she’s not leaving his side. 

That well of confusion, of certainty, is his only explanation for the sentence that leaves his throat, unbidden and unexpected. 

“I’m your husband.” 

Five nearly chokes at his own response, factual and swift and certain. It’s too late to take it back, and he fights a wince, waiting on pins and needles for her reaction. If she does have her memory, this is when she will call him out. Yes, that’s it. She’ll call his bluff, and he’ll lie and say he wanted to shock her into confessing. If she doesn’t… well, when she gets her memory back, she’ll see the necessity, surely. 

He nods to himself, squaring his shoulders and keeping his gaze open and honest. After a long moment of staring at him like he told her the sky is green, Vanya swallows hard, clamouring to her feet, brushing the dirt off her skirt after she stands. Her fingers twitch at her sides as she watches him rise as well. “We’re married?” She clarifies, voice high with surprise. 

He nods again, trying to look as earnest as possible. Honestly, he’s a little offended at her incredulity. Surely, he’s handsome enough for her? Clever enough? What else could she require? “We are,” he says firmly. 

After one last uncertain look, she comes forward. She looks like she might want to embrace him, but he can’t handle that, not with this Vanya who doesn’t know him, so he thrusts a hand in her direction, palm unfurled. Bemused, she takes it. 

“Are we going home?” She asks. 

Five shakes his head, leading her to the car. “No. There are some things that warrant an explanation.” They come to the spot where Vanya caused the crop circle, and he smirks. “But it’s good to see your powers are still intact.”

Vanya blushes. “About that…” 

“Coffee first,” Five interrupts. That’ll give him at least a car ride to weave a believable story.

-

Vanya’s hands clutch the mug as he finishes telling her about their lives. They’re from the 21st century. They’re superheroes, traveling through time to stop the apocalypse. Luther is her brother, yes, but otherwise they came together as adults, and that’s when he met her. He avoids words of love, of romance. Maybe she’ll imagine a marriage between best friends. Maybe she’ll take the space between them as a sign the affection between them isn’t physical. 

But he feels that space like it’s as wide as a gorge. And as much as he wants to cross it, to make his long overdue overtures when their history is absent is abhorrent to him. 

No, physicality will have to wait. After this is all over, they’ll have time. He has to believe that. 

“How long have we been married?” She asks, voice quiet. She trips over the last word like she’s never spoken it before, and some part of him briefly warms at the thought that she never considered it while he was gone. 

He studies her for a long moment. What makes sense? “About two years,” he replies, quite desperate for her to stop questioning their relationship. He can easily invent a story, but he doesn’t want to lie to her more than he needs to. “Aren’t you more curious about the world ending?”

Vanya blushes, red staining her cheeks the same way it always did when they were young. “Of course,” she says hastily. “But if it happens in four decades, don’t we have time to figure that out?”

Five shakes his head. “It followed us back here,” he says, watching her eyes go wide with horror. “We have nine days.” 

Vanya stumbles off her stool, more unbalanced than he’s ever seen her. “I - um - I have to make a call.” 

Realizing that he might’ve delivered that news with more tact, Five reaches for her hand, already regretting springing their timeline on her. He barely misses her, so he stands, following her to the payphone. “Vanya…” he tries as she lays a land on the glossy pink plastic, hesitating before closing his hand around her wrist. He’s tall now, much larger than his tiny sister, and his fingers encircle her wrist with ease. 

“I have to make a call,” she says firmly, shaking him off. 

Five is suddenly struck with the realization that Vanya making a call means that she  _ has _ someone to call. Which means she has not been alone this whole time. He hadn’t thought he’d have to deal with more than Vanya herself, and he knows how quickly she latches onto those who are kind to her. Better to sever this distraction as quickly as possible.

“Who?” He demands, quite aware that his voice is raised. He briefly imagines that she has already found a new romantic partner. His blood boils at the mere thought, and he has to exhale so he doesn’t scare her.  _ She’s his wife,  _ he thinks, and it is more comforting that it should be. She’s his wife, and whatever happened before he found her in that field doesn’t matter as long as she doesn’t leave him now. 

“Five-”

“No, Vanya, I’m your husband,” he says, triumphant that this now validates his choice of position in her life. How else is he supposed to get the truth from her? “Tell me, and I’ll help you.”

Vanya hesitates. “You will?” She asks, softly, staring up at him like she suspects him of misleading her. Is he so easy to distrust so quickly? But he nods, acting on impulse to bring the hand he holds to his mouth, pressing a dry, gentle kiss to the back of it. Vanya goes pink, and he can’t help but smirk. So she does find him physically desirable. That’ll make things easier. “You don’t have to-”

“I do,” he interrupts, bending so their faces are only inches away. His heart is pounding in his chest; he’s not sure when that started, or if it will ever stop. “Tell me,” he repeats. 

Vanya sighs, freeing her hand and taking a step back. “I’m staying with a family - they took me in. I took the car - I just wanted to check on them, is all.” 

Five nods, short and sweet. He’s thankful to any person good enough to take in a stranger, and relieved she’s not living with a romantic partner, but he’s here now. Now’s as good a time as any to withdraw Vanya from their lives. “Let’s go, then. I have an apartment in the city; we can pick up your things.” 

Vanya looks taken aback. “You just want me to leave them behind?”

Five raises an eyebrow. “We have work to do, Vanya. Don’t you want to meet the others?”

Vanya sighs, but her hand stays on the payphone. “Yes, but-”

Five pulls her away gently, threading her hand through his arm. “If you want to protect these people,” he urges softly, “we need to stop the end of the world.” 

Vanya capitulates, fingers curling in the fabric of his jacket. “What ends the world, Five?” She asks as he hands her into the car. She sounds afraid, nervous. 

He halts in his motion to close the car down, bending down and brushing a gentle knuckle across her cheek. Her eyes are wide, expectant, but there is a soulful sadness in them that sets off alarm bells in his mind. He shoves his suspicious nature down. The world is ending. Of course she is sad. 

“Asteroid impact,” he tells her.  _ Vanya, forgive me,  _ he thinks, shutting her into the car. She immediately curls back into the seat; she looks lost. 

The heart of him wonders if she feels trapped. His head thinks: better trapped than dead. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> five is gonna say 'i'm your husband' many times in this fic. it's not me. it's the spirit of five hargreeves wanting VERY badly to be vanya's husband.


End file.
